People’s Assembly
People's Assembly is a Cape Town-based non-profit civic technology platform that provides free tools for South African citizens to track and engage with their elected representatives across the National Assembly, NCOP, and all nine provincial legislatures, built on mySociety's open-source Pombola framework.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersCape Town, South Africa
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What People’s Assembly does
People's Assembly is a Cape Town-based non-profit civic technology platform that provides free public tools enabling South African citizens to monitor, locate, and engage with their elected representatives. The platform aggregates structured information across the National Assembly (400 seats), the National Council of Provinces (90 seats), and all nine South African Provincial Legislatures, providing a unified entry point for representative accountability at all three spheres of elected government.
The platform is built on mySociety's open-source Pombola parliamentary monitoring framework and uses data sourced from the Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG). Its product surface includes RepLocator, MP Profiles, a Committee Directory, MP Attendance Tracking, a "Write to MP/Committee" constituency contact feature, a Members' Interests Registry, a Petitions Platform, plus civic education resources and dedicated portals for the National Assembly, NCOP, and each provincial legislature.
The organization operates as a non-profit with no commercial pricing model; all tools are free to the public. Operating funding has been provided by Indigo Trust, a UK-based charitable foundation. The platform maintains an active editorial and social media presence across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and continues to publish civic content, including recent (July 2026) coverage on ethics tracking and municipal by-laws.
People’s Assembly firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- People’s Assembly
- Legal name
- People's Assembly
- Website
- https://pa.org.za
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- People's Assembly is a Cape Town-based non-profit civic technology platform that provides free tools for South African citizens to track and engage with their elected representatives across the National Assembly, NCOP, and all nine provincial legislatures, built on mySociety's open-source Pombola framework.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
People’s Assembly industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Civic Technology / Parliamentary Transparency
- akta.pro primary industry
- Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy (BPAGAFAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Civil Society Strengthening & Civic Space (BPADAGAD), Parliamentary/Government Proceedings Channels (MPABAIAL), Electoral Support & Election Observation (BPADAGAA)
Keywords
Where People’s Assembly is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cape Town
- HQ country
- South Africa
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices1 record
Markets served
People’s Assembly business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free public service for all citizens |
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
People’s Assembly product offering
Product offeringCore offering
People's Assembly is a free, web-based civic technology platform that helps South African citizens locate their elected representatives (Members of Parliament and Members of Provincial Legislatures), track parliamentary activities such as committee work and MP attendance, view declared financial interests of representatives, and engage directly with MPs and committees through messaging and petitions. The service covers all national and provincial legislatures across South Africa's nine provinces and aggregates parliamentary data sourced from the Parliamentary Monitoring Group.
Product overview
People's Assembly is a civic technology platform that operates as a single unified website providing South African citizens with tools to track their elected representatives and participate in parliamentary democracy. The platform is built on mySociety's Pombola open-source parliamentary monitoring framework. The core product suite includes: the RepLocator for finding representatives by address, MP Profiles with biographical and activity data, a Committee Directory for national and provincial committees, MP Attendance Tracking for transparency, a Write to MP/Committee messaging system for civic engagement, Members' Interests Registry for financial disclosure, and a Petitions Platform. The service covers all levels of South African government including the National Assembly (400 seats), National Council of Provinces (90 seats), and nine Provincial Legislatures. The platform aggregates data from the Parliamentary Monitoring Group and provides public access through its website interface and data API.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- RepLocator
- MP Profiles
- Committee Directory
- MP Attendance Tracking
- Write to MP/Committee
- Members' Interests Registry
- Petitions Platform
- Provincial Legislatures Portal
- Civic Education Resources
Companies that use People’s Assembly
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
People’s Assembly technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
People’s Assembly partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- mySocietycoremySociety coded the People's Assembly website platform. mySociety is a UK-based civic technology organization that builds open-source parliamentary monitoring software. The platform runs on code written by mySociety.
- Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG)coreThe People's Assembly website relies on Parliamentary Monitoring Group reports on parliamentary committee work. PMG is an independent organization that monitors and reports on South African parliamentary activities.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
People’s Assembly competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- mySociety: UK-based civic technology organization that built the Pombola platform running People's Assembly and operates comparable tools such as TheyWorkForYou and WriteToThem. Closest technology and mission peer — same model applied to UK parliamentary transparency.
- Open State Foundation: Dutch non-profit running parliamentary monitoring tools such as Parlement.com and Politiek.nl. Comparable Pombola-style stack and civic-transparency mission applied to a European parliament.
- Represent (Open North): Open North's representative-locator and civic-engagement tool for Canadian elected officials. Functionally analogous to People's Assembly's RepLocator with similar engagement and contact features.
- GovTrack.us: US-based non-profit that tracks the US Congress, including member attendance, voting records, and bill progress. Closest US analog to People's Assembly's parliamentary-monitoring and representative-locator functionality.
- Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG): Independent South African organization that monitors and reports on parliamentary committee work. PMG is People's Assembly's primary upstream data partner and the closest functional peer — both provide structured public access to South African parliamentary activity.
Regional players
- Vulekani (previously WOZA): South African civic engagement initiative providing citizens with channels to interact with elected representatives at local and national levels. Comparable citizen-to-representative engagement model in the same market.
- Africa Check: Africa's first independent fact-checking organization, headquartered in Johannesburg. Comparable mission of improving public-access to verified political and governance information across the continent.
- OpenUp (formerly Code for South Africa): South African civic-tech non-profit building transparency, open data, and accountability tools. Operates in the same geographic and civic-tech ecosystem with overlapping mission and audience.
Emerging players
- Poplus Foundation: International federation of civic-tech organizations that build on shared open-source parliamentary and civic tools (including Pombola). Comparable technology lineage and transparency mission across multiple jurisdictions.
Broad incumbents
- Follow The Money: US transparency platform aggregating money-in-politics data. Broader incumbent in the government-accountability space with overlapping user demand for political transparency and accountability.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
People’s Assembly social profiles
Digital presencePeople’s Assembly financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
People’s Assembly leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
People’s Assembly funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
People’s Assembly M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about People’s Assembly
What does People’s Assembly do?
People's Assembly is a free, web-based civic technology platform that helps South African citizens locate their elected representatives (Members of Parliament and Members of Provincial Legislatures), track parliamentary activities such as committee work and MP attendance, view declared financial interests of representatives, and engage directly with MPs and committees through messaging and petitions. The service covers all national and provincial legislatures across South Africa's nine provinces and aggregates parliamentary data sourced from the Parliamentary Monitoring Group.
Is People’s Assembly a public or private company?
People’s Assembly is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was People’s Assembly founded?
People’s Assembly was founded in -1.
Where is People’s Assembly based?
People’s Assembly is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Africa region.
Who are People’s Assembly's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are mySociety, Open State Foundation, Represent (Open North), GovTrack.us and Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG). Regional players are Vulekani (previously WOZA), Africa Check and OpenUp (formerly Code for South Africa). Poplus Foundation is listed as an emerging player. Follow The Money is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does People’s Assembly have an API?
Yes. The People's Assembly website provides a data API accessible via the 'Get the data' link (https://pa.org.za/help/api). The API allows access to parliamentary data including MP profiles, committee information, attendance records, and contact details for representatives.
What industry is People’s Assembly in?
People’s Assembly's product category is Civic Technology / Parliamentary Transparency. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAFAJ, Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy, with a secondary code of BPADAGAD, Civil Society Strengthening & Civic Space.